Techung awarded New York state artist fellowship

Tashi Dhondup Sharzur, aka Techung has been accepted to the 2018 New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Artist Fellowship Programme.

He was among 89 artists throughout New York State in the following disciplines: Fiction, Folk/Traditional Arts, Interdisciplinary Work, Painting, and Video/Film.

The Foundation will distribute a total of $623,000 among the artists with each receiving cash grants of $7,000. This is the 32nd year that artists have been chosen and honoured with the fellowship. New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) supports the initiative.

Speaking to Tibet Sun, Techung said: "This Fellowship is such an honour for my work in Tibetan music and culture. I have dedicated my life for this and I am super happy that this great State of New York have given me this recognition. I dedicate this moment of joy to my teachers and The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts for entrusting artists like me with an important role to play in preserving and revitalizing art in the Tibetan community and in the world."

In a statement, NYFA Executive Director Michael L Royce said: "Artists deepen humanity and help us to understand the world and each other through their work."

Mara Manus, Executive Director of the New York State Council on the Arts, said: "We recognise that at the heart of the arts is the individual artist.

"These grants provide artists in a multitude of disciplines with financial support so they can take risks and flourish in their work, fuelling the creative capital of New York."

Techung is a Tibetan folk singer and musician. Since childhood he was trained in traditional Tibetan dance and music at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) in McLeod Ganj, in northern India, where the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration is based.

He was at the Institute for 17 years studying all aspects of the Tibetan performing arts -- folk, court, and opera -- from elder Tibetan masters who had escaped into exile after the Chinese occupation of Tibet. His debut international performance as a child artiste in 1975 brought him to North America, Mexico, Europe, Australia, and Singapore. He moved to the US in 1988, and has performed in various venues around the world since then.

Techung's dual goals are to revive Tibetan music within the Tibetan community, and to share the unique Tibetan culture with the world community.